EU defense commissioner urges faster military mobility as Russia boosts defense spending

European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius urged European countries Tuesday to accelerate military mobility, warning that Russia's growing defense spending and production show Moscow is still "not being deterred."

Speaking at the Military Schengen 2026 Conference in Hamburg, Germany, Kubilius said Russia is expected to allocate €180 billion ($201 billion) for its 2027 military budget, about 3% more than this year's allocation.

"In purchasing power parity terms, Russia next year will spend the same amount, or even a little bit more, than all the EU member states," he said.

Kubilius said Russia is also outpacing Europe in defense industrial production and rapidly developing new military technologies, including drones.

"If the day X would come in terms of Russian possible aggression, we need to understand that we will face a battle-tested Russian army with the ability to use 10 million drones per year," he said.

He said this would amount to roughly 30,000 drones a day, adding that Russia is preparing for "a prolonged war and confrontation."

"Our defense readiness has to speed up," Kubilius said.

He stressed that Europe's ability to deter aggression depends not only on defense spending and military procurement but also on its ability to rapidly move troops and equipment across the continent.

Kubilius said military mobility should be treated as an urgent operational requirement rather than a theoretical issue.

He called for an ambitious EU military mobility package that he said should effectively function as a "Military Schengen."

Kubilius said the EU needs to replace the current patchwork of 27 national systems with a single European rulebook for military transport.

Under the proposed system, a single European permit would be valid across the EU and issued within a maximum of three days, he said.

For emergencies, Kubilius said the EU is proposing a new European Military Mobility Enhanced Response System that could be activated by the EU Council.